Let’s be real for a second. Most horror games treat their cast like glorified meat sacks. You know the drill: the jock, the nerd, the blonde, and the guy who definitely dies in the first twenty minutes. But Supermassive Games did something weirdly ambitious with House of Ashes characters. They didn't just give us archetypes; they gave us a group of people who, quite frankly, have every reason to kill each other before the monsters even show up.
It’s 2003. Iraq. The "Mission Accomplished" era. You've got a team of Americans and one very unlucky Iraqi soldier trapped in a subterranean Sumerian temple that is—surprise!—crawling with ancient, bloodthirsty vampires.
What makes this entry in the Dark Pictures Anthology stick the landing isn't just the jump scares. It's the friction. You’re playing as people with deep-seated political, personal, and romantic resentments. If you play your cards wrong, they’ll let each other die. Honestly, sometimes you might even want them to.
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The Messy Reality of Rachel King and the Love Triangle
Rachel King is... a lot. As a CIA field officer, she’s cold, efficient, and played by Ashley Tisdale, which is a casting choice that works way better than it has any right to. Most players go into this expecting Sharpay with a gun, but Rachel is actually the most polarizing of all the House of Ashes characters.
She’s stuck in this brutal romantic deadlock. On one side, you have Eric King, her estranged husband and the tactical lead who’s desperately trying to fix their marriage with the grace of a sledgehammer. On the other, there’s Nick Kay, the sergeant she’s been having an affair with.
It’s messy.
The game forces you to decide if Rachel is a "ride or die" partner or someone who cuts her losses. There’s a specific moment involving a literal rope where you have to decide Eric’s fate, and it’s one of the most stressful moral tests in the game. Do you cut the line to save yourself? If you’ve spent the last hour listening to Eric whine about his satellite tech, you might find your finger hovering over that button a little too long.
The interesting thing about Rachel is her infection arc. Unlike the others, she can become a ticking time bomb. Dealing with her "condition" toward the end of the game requires actual backbone from the other survivors. You can choose to put her in a cocoon—hoping for a cure—or just end it. It’s dark stuff.
Salim and Jason: The Bromance We Didn't Deserve
If you ask any fan who the best House of Ashes characters are, they’re going to say Salim and Jason. Period.
Salim Othman is an Iraqi Ground Forces soldier who just wants to go home to his son’s birthday. Jason Kolchek is a Recon Marine with a massive chip on his shoulder and some pretty blatant prejudices. In any other game, they’d be enemies until the credits roll. Here? They’re the emotional core of the entire story.
The "Enemy of my Enemy" trophy isn't just a gimmick. It’s a slow-burn realization. Watching Jason, a guy who starts the game as a narrow-minded soldier, slowly realize that Salim is the most honorable person in the caves is genuinely moving. They have this scene where they’re fighting side-by-side against a swarm of those bat-things, and if you've built enough rapport, they start covering each other’s backs instinctively.
It’s one of the few times a choice-based game feels like it’s actually saying something about human nature rather than just "don't trip on that branch."
Nick and Eric: The Forgotten Complexity
People tend to overlook Nick and Eric because they’re caught in Rachel’s orbit, but they’re fascinatingly flawed.
Nick Kay suffers from some pretty heavy PTSD from a "checkpoint incident" that happened before the game starts. He’s shaky. He’s unsure. He isn't your typical action hero. When he has to go deep into the hive to set the charges, you can literally feel his heartbeat through the controller. If he doesn’t have a good relationship with Jason, he’s basically a dead man walking.
Then there’s Eric. Poor, tactical, high-IQ Eric.
He’s the "C-Suite" guy of the military world. He brought the GPS tech that got them into this mess. Most players find him annoying at first because he’s so rigid, but he’s also one of the most fragile characters. He can die in more ways than almost anyone else. One wrong step, one bit of misplaced pride, and he’s impaled. But if you play him as a man realizing his own limitations, he becomes surprisingly sympathetic.
Why Character Death Matters More Here
In Man of Medan or Little Hope, deaths sometimes felt cheap or like the result of a "gotcha" QTE. In House of Ashes, deaths usually feel like a failure of character.
If Merwin dies (the foul-mouthed technician who is technically a side character but feels like a lead), it’s often because you chose to prioritize speed over safety. If the main cast falls apart, it’s because you failed to bridge the gap between their conflicting personalities.
The game tracks "Bearing" systems. These are essentially butterfly effects. A snarky comment from Rachel in the first act can lead to Nick refusing to help Eric in the final act. It’s a web of resentment.
The Hidden Depth of the "Ancient" Characters
We can't talk about the cast without mentioning the prologue characters, Balathu and Kurum. You play as them for ten minutes in ancient Akkad, and then they disappear—sort of.
Depending on your choices, these guys come back as "The Ancient One." It’s a brilliant bit of narrative design. They aren't just generic monsters; they are the remains of the people you played as at the start. It adds a layer of tragedy to the horror. You aren't just fighting aliens; you’re fighting the twisted legacy of the very ground you’re standing on.
How to Keep Everyone Alive (The Practical Stuff)
Keeping all the House of Ashes characters alive is a nightmare on your first run. Most people lose at least two. To get the "Golden Path," you need to ignore your instincts sometimes.
- Prioritize the Jason/Salim bond. If Jason doesn't go back for Salim in the final chamber, you lose the best ending.
- Give Eric the UV wand. It’s the only thing that actually scares the monsters. Without it, he’s defenseless in several key scenes.
- Don't be a jerk as Rachel. You can be "strong" without being "toxic." If she alienates both men, she’s less likely to get the support she needs when she gets sick.
- Air Support. It sounds counter-intuitive, but calling for air support early on actually changes the finale’s difficulty and the survival rate of certain background characters.
Most players assume that being aggressive is the way to survive a horror game. It’s not. In this game, the characters who survive are the ones who learn to communicate. It’s a social simulator wrapped in a creature feature.
The Verdict on the Cast
These aren't the most likable people at the start. They’re arrogant, they’re messy, and they’re part of a controversial historical conflict. But that’s exactly why they work. You start the game wanting to see them get humbled; you end the game desperately hoping they make it to the elevator.
Supermassive Games proved that you don’t need "pure" heroes for a good story. You just need people who feel real enough to care about when the lights go out.
Actionable Next Steps for Completionists
To fully experience the depth of these characters, your next playthrough should focus on the Curator’s Cut. This mode flips the script, letting you play scenes from the perspective of the other character in the room. You’ll see Salim’s internal thoughts while Jason is interrogating him, or play as Nick during the tense moments when Rachel and Eric are arguing. It completely changes your perception of their motivations and makes the survival stakes feel even more personal. Additionally, check your "Relationships" tab in the pause menu frequently—it’s the only way to see if your dialogue choices are actually moving the needle or just making things worse.